Karen's blog

The first book by Dugdall, The Woman Before Me, that I read was a very interesting journey into a world that the author obviously knows a lot about. In my review I noted:

"Obviously Dugdall is writing about a world that she knows very well - the depiction of jail culture is stark and very pointed. She's also writing about the circumstances of people that she knows well - how someone's past can affect their present, and how complex the problems of justice and punishment can be."

Never made any secret of my liking for short story collections, and the darker the better - which makes my dipping in and out of this little gem of a collection somewhat of a treat. Although I do think I should be smoking a cigarette, drinking straight scotch and sat somewhere dark and vaguely sinister...

From the Blurb:

Having a bit of a thriller splurge at the moment...

From the Blurb:

Three years ago Bishop was the leader of a elite close protection team assigned to safeguard a millionaire and his daughter. After being attacked, Bishop regained consciousness to find seven bodies strewn throughout the millionaire's Long Island mansion – including those of his two charges – and a mountain of evidence guaranteed to send him down for the murders.

But to find out who set him up and why, Bishop needs to be free. And now the time has come for him to make his move ...

I really like these sorts of challenges because you're basically going up against yourself. You set a number of books that you reckon you can read in year and then the widget on your Goodreads account keeps track of how many books you've read and how far ahead / behind you are in terms of percentage.

Last year I set 150 books for the entire year which I thought I'd reach without too much trouble. Needless to say I over-reached just a tad, so this year I modified my expectations just a tiny bit and set it to 120.

About the only sort of housework that gets done on a semi-regular basis around here is the restacking and reorganising (and a tiny bit of dusting) of the book shelves, mostly in a vain attempt to claw back a little more space. Needless to say it's also not a bad idea as every now again you come across a book that you should have read... a long time ago. How embarrassment.

From the Blurb:

Be careful where you go and very careful who you cross, for sometimes the sun shines on even the darkest souls.

Meet the Silver Dagger ... and hell on earth.

Another review book that has been in the queue for way too long.

From the Blurb:

2003. Invalided out of the SAS Chet Freeman makes his living in high-end security, on a temporary contract for an American corporation called the Grosvenor Group. He catches a young woman, a peace campaigner, eavesdropping on a meeting the Group is holding with the British Prime Minister. The Group's interests include arms manufacture, and what Chet and the young woman overhear seems to imply that it is bribing the Prime Minister to take his country into an illegal war.

A special long weekend, so a few catchups with old favourites.

From the Blurb:

A cabbie’s been beaten up, there’s a drunk and disorderly in the interview room and a possible child abuser is on his way in. Just a pretty normal Christmas Holiday for Resnick and his team. Then Dana Matheison calls to report her flat mate, Nancy, missing. Pretty soon the police have proof that Nancy was kidnapped, and then — as the New Year celebrations wind down — the first tape arrives and Resnick knows they’re dealing with a dangerous psychopath.

It's been a while since the movies of this series were playing on SBS but I can still see the actor that plays Inspector Montalbano - he did such a tremendous job of bringing the grumpy, food loving, complicated character to life. Another series that I'm very behind with but I do love the chance to dip into the books when I can.

From the Blurb:

The second book I've been lucky enough to read from http://http://lefrenchbook.com/, this is a legal thriller.

From the Blurb:

Apologies to those authors and publicists who have been wondering whether I'm ever going to post their event, review or book details. A technology update was required, and while I was at it, a bit of a layout mod at the same time.

Nothing like a website as a big toy.